if you'll be my star
by paper piper
Summary: he came with the night, in the form of her sweetest dreams. -rini/helios


A/N: Something for a couple I dearly love, and which has always arrested my imagination.

A/N: Lyrics from Gregory and the Hawk's "Boats and Birds"

A/N: Contains some spoilers, basically spans the entire season of Sailor Moon Super S.

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><p>If You'll Be My Star<p>

_If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky,_

_You can hide underneath me and come out at night_

_When I turn jet-black and you show off your light_

_I live to let you shine_

_._

_._

He came with the night, in the form of her sweetest dreams.

_Hello, little one_, he said, and the way he said it, wordlessly, as if his soul was speaking directly to hers—oh, it stole her immediately.

_Hello_, she whispered shyly back, in that garden of crystals and melting light.

.

.

Before he arrived on the scene, she had dreamed of rose gardens bathed in summer sun, of a dear friend in the park with her sun hat fluttering in the wind, of keys and Time Gates and moons and stars, of a crystal palace with a laughing, glittery couple: one, a lady of quality, one whose face lit up with love and whose eyes shone fearlessly, optimistically, as if the future was theirs! And the other, a man with a gentle, side-tipped smile and eyes hidden by the daintiest of glasses, his figure erect against his dark cape and scepter. Her mother-queen and father-king.

But now, oh, now, the Small Lady was dreaming of a forest with a lake and trees rising majestically out of the ground, of a place beyond the realm of her small-circle reality, a world hitherto unknown to her, a world that had called her gently, alluringly, and she had followed.

And when she went, he was there.

.

.

Helios, his name was from the gods. It was a name that cast a spell over her, that tasted faintly of Heaven on her lips. Arriving not as a man, but as a horse—no, not just a horse, as Pegasus! The keeper of Dreams, the apparition that guides all Dreamers to their nightly rest, the benevolent god who ruled his alternative universe—Small Lady learned to love his soul before she saw his body. The silent, still creature at the edge of the forest, taking a casual drink out of the pond, waiting patiently for her company at the end of each day, he looked up at her with soulful golden eyes that uprooted her from her place in Tokyo.

_I'd fly anywhere with you_, she wanted to say.

And they did fly. He bared his back to her, let the blushing child climb on him and squeeze his body between her young thighs—and took off.

Helios showed her the city where she was born, the city she had grown to love as she passed childhood in his streets, alongside her own youthful mother and the Guardians who would someday protect their world from evil. They flew together over Tokyo, feeling the night wind caress their skin, he staring straight ahead in flight-focus, and she, blinking tears from her face.

She was growing up. She both loathed it and loved it.

Since even her days in the Thirtieth Century, she had dreamed of being like her mother, the Queen. Her father, King Endymion, lulled her to sleep with stories of Sailor Moon, the tall, beautiful, strong soldier who protected the Universe in the days of old—and Rini's young heart leapt up to follow. _I want to be tall and beautiful and strong, too! I want to be a bride, alongside someone as wonderful as Papa!_

Oh, but the sweetness of youth was just as intoxicating. Now, as she was, the tiny, pink-haired girl who played freely with her other tiny friends, laughing and being rowdy like a child should be—without care, without worry. Even Serena had her problems to deal with; she was facing the end of her own childhood and transitioning into a world reserved especially for adults.

Adulthood.

But here she was, in her sweetest dreams, a child and in love. Two of her greatest dreams, her youth and her Pegasus, in one lovely moment.

.

.

She had virgin lips.

Many times in the mirror, Rini had touched her mouth with the lightest touches, and her gaze became foggy. _What would it be like?_ She wondered, to have a man's mouth over hers—for him to suddenly lean in and claim her lips? She knew it had to depend on the young man, whether she really liked him; and at that point in her musings, the Small Lady's face would rose over in the brightest of blushes.

Helios had her first kiss. How strange, that a girl's first kiss was so surreal; it had happened in her own dreams, with her dream-lover, while he was not even in his original body. But Pegasus had leaned forth and she craned her head toward him, and suddenly, she felt not the touch of a horse's nose on her cheek, but the touch of a phantom-boy's lips on her own.

Was it real? Did it "count" as a first kiss? Though her lips were still technically untouched, he had brushed something even more important that night—he touched her soul.

_Oh. Steal me away forever._

.

.

_Helios?_ The question had dropped from her lips like her heart's greatest desire.

The first time she saw his true form was not auspicious; he had been captured by that Witch Woman, the one who wanted him only for his crystal, for his power—_when he had so much more to offer, couldn't she see that?_

Helios, cold and pale and still in his bondage, still moved her nearly to tears. Her face heated, her breath hitched, her eyes blurred a little. She wasn't sure what she had expected him to look like, but her instant feeling was that he was so much more—more than even she could have dreamed up. Delicate even, effeminate. She wanted to protect this lovely thing that he wandered into her heart's garden, and then run away with him.

.

.

Instead, he came after her.

Weak unto unconsciousness, the Sailor Mini Moon who was supposed to save the world had fallen.

But _oh_, when he had crawled, on his hands and knees, like a broken thing with purpose still in its eyes, when he took her in his arms in a last ditch effort, and pressed his lips softly against hers—

It was like being called home. Rather than running away, Rini felt whole again, as if she were in the place she had always belonged. When she opened her eyes after nearly losing herself, he was the first one she saw, and the relief in his eyes filled her with delight.

_Oh, you beautiful, wonderful thing. How could I have left you?_

She felt like a woman. Better—a lady. A princess from a fairytale. She remembered who she was. She came back to life, thriving under his touch, and she conquered. The world was bright again, and the nightmares had subsided. Only the sweetest dreams were left, trembling after their close call, but safe again for everyone.

.

.

She clutched his hand. Though she had stood against his enemies, against the enemies of Truth and Love, she was afraid of what he would say to her. It was not their usual meeting place. It was broad daylight, in front of her friends and (future) parents. She felt the world watching them.

He must have known, because his eyes were soft, handling her gently.

Helios, the god of her Dreams, he knelt and kissed her hand. Like a gentleman suitor does for a lady he courts, he fell at her feet in humility and submission, in thankfulness, in reverence, and he touched his lips to the back of her hand with the barest of touches.

But she knew. She felt the quiver of his soul beneath his smooth demeanor. It said, _Don't Worry, little one. I will never leave you._

And she felt her soul lurch forward and murmur, _Please take my heart._

And he stood again, formally, but this time her shyness was already obliterated, he had already transfixed her, he was the only one there, there was no one for her to be embarrassed about, she only wanted this—and Rini threw her tiny arms around his waist and held on, as if she believed in her child's heart that by doing so she would keep him there.

He flew away anyway. In a flash of light, he was suddenly against the bright Japanese sky, a figure out of a Dream, fluttering in the wind like a rose petal, or a night wish. Rini felt bereft, for he had escaped her arms; what could she do now? Who could possibly take his place? She could not keep the anxiety down—but Serena, in her own bride's wisdom, comforted her with eyes that smiled: _You'll see him in your dreams._

.

.

_Ah_, and wonder: how easily she found her way back, back to the forest with the glowing lake and the crystals sprouting like flowers, and the creature standing there—

_Hello, little one_, he said, and this time, Helios came to her as a man. His white-blonde dream locks, his pale, girlish skin, and his soft smile, and his hushed words. _My little one_.

And _hello_, she murmured, marveling at this, this fresh love that could only have come to her as a child: the love of a Dreamer for her Dream.

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><p>AN: So, how'd it go? **Press the button & review, folks. Keeps me writing.**


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